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Direct link: http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/7243429.htm
Posted on Wed, Nov. 12, 2003
Report Warns Iraqis Supporting Resistance
PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A new top-secret intelligence report warns that Iraqis are losing faith in U.S.-led occupation forces, a development that is increasing support for the resistance, officials said Wednesday.
CIA and White House officials refused to confirm the existence of the report, which comes to light amid urgently scheduled White House meetings with America's civil administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. Two other senior U.S. officials said the report paints a worrisome picture of the political and security situation there.
It suggests spiraling violence and a lack of confidence in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council may be bringing efforts to a turning point, sending more Iraqis over to the side of insurgents fighting occupation troops, said two officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
Asked about that after a morning meeting with Bush, Bremer said: "I think the situation with the Iraqi public is, frankly, not easy to quantify."
Bremer noted that his provisional authority has conducted opinion polls and other assessments to take the Iraqi temperature. He said it was obvious that insurgents have been "trying to encourage the Iraqi people to believe the United States is not going to stay the course," and added "I don't think that that's going to work."
Asked about the increase in guerrilla attacks on coalition forces in Iraq, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS "The Early Show" Wednesday that "these are very intelligent moves that the bad people are making ... time is not on our side."
Because the report is classified, officials talked about it only in general terms and only on grounds they not be publicly identified. The officials declined to furnish details.
On the subject of the increasing violence, one official noted that American forces already are using more aggressive raids and other tactics to try to fight insurgents, which officials fear could alienate more Iraqis. For instance, American forces responded with aerial bombing and mortars over the weekend in a show-of-force response to the downing of a U.S. helicopter last week.
And on Wednesday, U.S. troops opened fire accidentally on a car carrying a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, the Iraqi administration said. The council member escaped injury but the driver was hurt.
A Pentagon official said Wednesday the administration worries that support of coalition partners also could wane, as more international contingents suffer casualties in Iraq. He spoke after authorities reported a deadly truck bomb attack against the headquarters of the Italian Carabinieri police in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah Wednesday.
Meanwhile on the political side, the CIA report warns, appointed Iraqi leaders don't appear to be up to the job of governing or working toward holding elections, one official said.
He declined to say what, if any, recommendations the CIA made in the report delivered to the administration Monday.
Asked whether the reported decline in Iraqi confidence made it important to more quickly transfer power to local authorities, Bremer said the United States has been transferring authority to Iraqis "as quickly as they were able to assume it."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan wouldn't comment on the classified CIA report, but said: "There are a lot of indications to show that the Iraqi people want the coalition forces to stay and finish the job. They do not want to return to the days of a brutal, oppressive regime. They recognize that there is a better future coming for them."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, which first reported on the CIA assessment in Wednesday's editions, said the report found it is impossible to completely seal Iraq's borders against infiltration by foreign fighters. It also raised concern that majority Shiite Muslims could begin joining minority Sunnis in turning against the occupation, the newspaper said.
Related story:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102935,00.html
U.S. Officials Conclude Al Qaeda in Iraq
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
By John Moody
BAGHDAD, Iraq — After a week of almost nightly terrorist attacks, U.S. officials have concluded that Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq along with pro-Saddam forces and is responsible for the deaths of American troops in the country, a senior coalition source said Wednesday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed similar hints from other officials, the most recent by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (search), the commander of U.S forces in Iraq.
The source would not be drawn into estimates of how many operatives of the terrorist organization headed by Usama bin Laden were in the country, or of which specific attacks they were suspected.
At least 156 Americans have been killed in Iraq since the announced end of major combat last May.
“We have Al Qaeda in the country, yes, there’s no doubt about it,†said the source. “We also have Saddam loyalists who have nothing to lose. And we have foreign fighters who have come across the border from Syria and Iran and who see Iraq as the best place to kill Americans.â€
On Tuesday, Sanchez revealed that coalition forces had captured as many as 20 suspected Al Qaeda fighters, but stopped short of confirming their affiliation with the group, which claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A member of the Iraqi Governing Coalition (search) made similar claims and repeated the charge that Al Qaeda has selected Iraq as its new battlefield against the U.S.
The most recent attacks in Baghdad have caused few injuries and little damage. But they have focused on the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (search), which is in the tightly controlled “green zone†of the capital. Most of the incidents have involved firing mortar rounds or rockets from crude launching devices.
Brig. General Mark Hertling, the commander of U.S. forces in the capital, said the rockets used in Tuesday’s attacks were actually launched from an old metal gutter. While acknowledging that they hit close to the CPA compound, Hertling dismissed the attacks as “militarily insignificant.†He pointed out that more Iraqis than Americans — nearly 1,000 according to some estimates — have been killed by recent terrorist incidents.
He said some 2,200 caches of weapons and ordnance have been uncovered in the Baghdad area alone, and nearly all of them are now under guard or have been destroyed. That represents progress, but is not a solution in itself.
“I had an officer say to me, ‘I get why they’re shooting at you,'†Hertling recalled. “And he said, ‘I guess I get why they’re trying to kill people from the U.N., and the Red Cross, because those people will help Iraq become free and prosperous eventually. "What I don’t get is, why are they killing their own people, and why aren’t those people pissed off about it?â€
Said Hertling, “I knew exactly what he meant. But I couldn’t answer hisquestion.â€
John Moody is senior vice president of Fox News.
Posted on Wed, Nov. 12, 2003
Report Warns Iraqis Supporting Resistance
PAULINE JELINEK
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A new top-secret intelligence report warns that Iraqis are losing faith in U.S.-led occupation forces, a development that is increasing support for the resistance, officials said Wednesday.
CIA and White House officials refused to confirm the existence of the report, which comes to light amid urgently scheduled White House meetings with America's civil administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer. Two other senior U.S. officials said the report paints a worrisome picture of the political and security situation there.
It suggests spiraling violence and a lack of confidence in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council may be bringing efforts to a turning point, sending more Iraqis over to the side of insurgents fighting occupation troops, said two officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
Asked about that after a morning meeting with Bush, Bremer said: "I think the situation with the Iraqi public is, frankly, not easy to quantify."
Bremer noted that his provisional authority has conducted opinion polls and other assessments to take the Iraqi temperature. He said it was obvious that insurgents have been "trying to encourage the Iraqi people to believe the United States is not going to stay the course," and added "I don't think that that's going to work."
Asked about the increase in guerrilla attacks on coalition forces in Iraq, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS "The Early Show" Wednesday that "these are very intelligent moves that the bad people are making ... time is not on our side."
Because the report is classified, officials talked about it only in general terms and only on grounds they not be publicly identified. The officials declined to furnish details.
On the subject of the increasing violence, one official noted that American forces already are using more aggressive raids and other tactics to try to fight insurgents, which officials fear could alienate more Iraqis. For instance, American forces responded with aerial bombing and mortars over the weekend in a show-of-force response to the downing of a U.S. helicopter last week.
And on Wednesday, U.S. troops opened fire accidentally on a car carrying a member of the Iraqi Governing Council, the Iraqi administration said. The council member escaped injury but the driver was hurt.
A Pentagon official said Wednesday the administration worries that support of coalition partners also could wane, as more international contingents suffer casualties in Iraq. He spoke after authorities reported a deadly truck bomb attack against the headquarters of the Italian Carabinieri police in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah Wednesday.
Meanwhile on the political side, the CIA report warns, appointed Iraqi leaders don't appear to be up to the job of governing or working toward holding elections, one official said.
He declined to say what, if any, recommendations the CIA made in the report delivered to the administration Monday.
Asked whether the reported decline in Iraqi confidence made it important to more quickly transfer power to local authorities, Bremer said the United States has been transferring authority to Iraqis "as quickly as they were able to assume it."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan wouldn't comment on the classified CIA report, but said: "There are a lot of indications to show that the Iraqi people want the coalition forces to stay and finish the job. They do not want to return to the days of a brutal, oppressive regime. They recognize that there is a better future coming for them."
The Philadelphia Inquirer, which first reported on the CIA assessment in Wednesday's editions, said the report found it is impossible to completely seal Iraq's borders against infiltration by foreign fighters. It also raised concern that majority Shiite Muslims could begin joining minority Sunnis in turning against the occupation, the newspaper said.
Related story:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,102935,00.html
U.S. Officials Conclude Al Qaeda in Iraq
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
By John Moody
BAGHDAD, Iraq — After a week of almost nightly terrorist attacks, U.S. officials have concluded that Al Qaeda is operating in Iraq along with pro-Saddam forces and is responsible for the deaths of American troops in the country, a senior coalition source said Wednesday. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed similar hints from other officials, the most recent by Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (search), the commander of U.S forces in Iraq.
The source would not be drawn into estimates of how many operatives of the terrorist organization headed by Usama bin Laden were in the country, or of which specific attacks they were suspected.
At least 156 Americans have been killed in Iraq since the announced end of major combat last May.
“We have Al Qaeda in the country, yes, there’s no doubt about it,†said the source. “We also have Saddam loyalists who have nothing to lose. And we have foreign fighters who have come across the border from Syria and Iran and who see Iraq as the best place to kill Americans.â€
On Tuesday, Sanchez revealed that coalition forces had captured as many as 20 suspected Al Qaeda fighters, but stopped short of confirming their affiliation with the group, which claimed responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A member of the Iraqi Governing Coalition (search) made similar claims and repeated the charge that Al Qaeda has selected Iraq as its new battlefield against the U.S.
The most recent attacks in Baghdad have caused few injuries and little damage. But they have focused on the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority (search), which is in the tightly controlled “green zone†of the capital. Most of the incidents have involved firing mortar rounds or rockets from crude launching devices.
Brig. General Mark Hertling, the commander of U.S. forces in the capital, said the rockets used in Tuesday’s attacks were actually launched from an old metal gutter. While acknowledging that they hit close to the CPA compound, Hertling dismissed the attacks as “militarily insignificant.†He pointed out that more Iraqis than Americans — nearly 1,000 according to some estimates — have been killed by recent terrorist incidents.
He said some 2,200 caches of weapons and ordnance have been uncovered in the Baghdad area alone, and nearly all of them are now under guard or have been destroyed. That represents progress, but is not a solution in itself.
“I had an officer say to me, ‘I get why they’re shooting at you,'†Hertling recalled. “And he said, ‘I guess I get why they’re trying to kill people from the U.N., and the Red Cross, because those people will help Iraq become free and prosperous eventually. "What I don’t get is, why are they killing their own people, and why aren’t those people pissed off about it?â€
Said Hertling, “I knew exactly what he meant. But I couldn’t answer hisquestion.â€
John Moody is senior vice president of Fox News.